Spent some time today working on the grain mill and elevator anchoring the east end of my 22nd Street Secondary.

First some construction background: the headhouse is scratcbuilt from .030 styrene overlain with .020 strips to simulate a more substantial frame. The silos are 2-3/8" PVC pipe with a .030 styrene roof. The gallery (running across the top of the silos) is Evergreen metal-siding styrene, as is most of the loading/unloading shed.

I was going to use a Digitrax system for DCC from the beginning. However, I am on a tight budget right now. I almost have the track to build my first layout in N scale using Unitrack, but don't yet have a powerpack or DCC system. I do have to say that Dave Vollmer's blog post on his experiences with Digitrax customer service was very influential in my initial decision.

Many layouts involve coming into a room through a door that the railroad will have to cross.  I have found that duck under as you get older are not the thing we need or want.   Many very ingenious lift up or open up designs and application are truly great, but they do tend for most part to be complicated or past ones skill level. This is an example of a lift out and set aside bridge to cover door openings.

I spent All Day Saturday following ex Canadian National Locomotive #7470 for a special "Steam in the Snow" event. We had a great Day Photographing and Video recording the Event. Temps were 9 to 19 degrees. The Snow was fresh. This has been an annual event for the last 7 or 8 years. This will be the last one for some time as #7470 is going to be torn down for a Boiler Inspection. So I don't know when She will return to the Rails. Here's the video link.. Enjoy

http://youtu.be/Ax7TbMWu8o0

Nearing completion of the Parks Coal Shed. This is a scratch-built structure based upon the remaining prototype in Thornbury. I used engraved wood siding from Monster Modelworks, strip lumber from Mount Albert and Plastruct corrugated roofing material.

I have two flatcars one with a load and the other empty.During an operating session I swap the empty for the loaded.

 I am assuming, for my purposes, this is a random car being loaded(not in dedicated service). My question did the chains/blocking material just get send back to the railroad?  Was it just thrown on top of the car and sent back ?

Would it be correct to have loose tie down material on the deck?

Thanks

Bill  Wehmeier

I am working on scenery during this cold Minnesota winter. The first part is the top of the hill on my mainline helix.

I like to document this as I am building so I know how much progress I am making. I will be adding a tunnel portal, some concrete retaining walls and making an old abandoned railroad right of way, most likely a logging line abandoned in the 1920’s. I will use some rotted ties and smaller rail such as code 40-55 discarded in the deep woods. I might also add a building foundation or water tower base.

Unfortunately, a number of users (and potential users) of A-Track have reported a couple of problems with Version 4.3 of the program, as released last November. Neither of these annoying problems affects the main functions of A-Track (helping you use your NCE DCC system), and they can be fixed fairly easily, as detailed in the following workarounds.

Just a quick video tour of my layout.

I have a question, well actually two -

First: It is what is the best/preferred way to respond to a comment/question asked on blog post? How does the person asking the question know that a answer has been posted? Does the answer get posted in the original blog post in the comments section or do I create another blog post? I am not sure how to respond, I have just been answering in the comments area.

Second: Is there a way of getting the following into a post without retyping it every time?

Thanks for any and all help.